13th Regiment Armory

The 13th Regiment Armory is a historic armory designed by architect Rudolph L. Daus and built in 1892–1894.[1] It is located at 357 Marcus Garvey Boulevard (also known as Sumner Avenue) between Putnam and Jefferson Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City. Daus had previously designed the Lincoln Club on Putnam Avenue in 1889.[1]

13th Regiment Armory
Pamoja House Entrance, July 2018
General information
TypeArmory
Address357 Marcus Garvey Blvd
Town or cityBrooklyn, New York
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40°41′06″N 73°56′15″W
Current tenantsPamoja House
Construction started1892
Completed1894
OpenedApril 23, 1894
Cost$20,685,000
OwnerNew York City Department of Homeless Services
Design and construction
ArchitectRudolphe L. Daus

The armory building is currently used as the Pamoja House (also known as Sumner House Shelter Care Center for Men), a homeless shelter for men managed by Black Veterans for Social Justice, Inc. and supervised by New York City Department of Homeless Services. The Pamoja House is named for the Swahili word for "together".[2]

The armory's design is expansive, yet austere. According to Francis Morrone, "Something, perhaps the busy-ness or a greater stridency in the machicolations, makes this armory seem more forbidding than the 23rd Regiment's which is actually rather jolly."[3]

History

Previous locations

The 13th Regiment was previously housed in Gothic Hall on Adams Street in the 1830s. In 1858, it moved to the Henry Street Armory. and finally to the Flatbush Armory in 1874–75.[4]

Construction and use as armory

The 13th Regiment had received a $300,000 award for the construction of a new armory in 1890.[5] However, subsequent changes increased the armory's cost to $400,000.[6] The armory ultimately cost nearly $700,000, more than twice its original outlay, which was paid by the Kings County government.[5][7] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle called the drastic cost increases as "a scandal of no common dimensions",[8] and The New York Times described the armory as one of three Brooklyn armories facing extreme cost overruns, the others being the 14th Regiment Armory in Park Slope and the 23rd Regiment Armory in Crown Heights.[9] A panel of experts recommended cutting several ornate features and downsizing the drill room in order to complete the project within the $300,000 appropriation.[10]

The armory opened on April 23, 1894.[4][11] The excessive reallocation of money on the armory's lavish dimensions had resulted in insufficient funding for such items as sidewalks and fences.[5] The budget cuts also resulted in several design deficiencies: for instance, by September 1894, the roof was found to be leaking.[12] Then, in 1903, a wall at the 13th Regiment Armory fell on seven men, killing two of them.[13] Because the drill hall had been downsized as part of the budget cuts, it soon became insufficient for training, and was extended in 1906. The architectural work for this was done by the Parfitt Brothers.[1] In 1921, a large memorial made by L. Riene Co. was erected in the southwest yard with the names of all the soldiers who had been stationed in the armory during World War I, with the casualties listed at the top.[14] Subsequently, a 1944 fire at the armory burned many of the regiment's trophies.[15]

The 13th Regiment Armory was used for several civilian purposes over the years, including as a schools' track and field venue,[16] Sunday school competitions,[17] and singing contests.[18] On June 22–28, 1953, the building was used for the 48th annual session of the Baptist Congress by the Sunday School Congress and Baptist Training Union.[19]

By the mid-20th century, urban armories had become less necessary, and in 1974 the Thirteenth Regiment was deactivated.[5] Plans to close the armory were announced in 1971 as part of a budget cut.[20] A black veterans' group characterized the proposal as racist, since the 13th Regiment Armory was located in a predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhood.[21] A methadone treatment center was proposed for the site in 1972, but that plan was opposed by residents who were concerned about crime increases and wanted more attention to be paid to health, housing, recreation, and schools in Bedford–Stuyvesant.[22]

Conversion into homeless shelter

After deactivation, the 13th Regiment Armory's headhouse was used to store vehicles while the administration building was used as a school. However, by the 1980s, existing homeless shelters in New York City had become overcrowded, so the city started opening new shelters in armories.[5] Starting in 1987 or 1988,[1][5] the 13th Regiment Armory was converted for use as a men's homeless shelter,[7] In 1992, a judge ordered that the armory shelter's capacity be cut back from 550 to 200 homeless men.[23] Some residents of the nearby neighborhood did not want the shelter to be opened in the first place, but by 1993, had planted some flowers outside the shelter to beautify it.[24]

According to the Pamoja House's website in 2015, it "specializes in managing a homeless population that was refused from other shelters in New York City and is a ‘next-step’ facility. Residents of Pamoja House were deemed ‘non-compliant’ in general population shelters."[25] As a next-step shelter, residents had an 8 PM curfew rather than the DHS standard of 10 PM, and the facility had no television sets, dirty sheets, and meals consisting of one frankfurter and two 4-U.S.-fluid-ounce (120 mL) cups of juice.[26] Steven Banks, as commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services, eliminated the "next step" program, converting it into a general population men's shelter with the maximum 200 beds.[27]

The company rooms are used as dormitories, and the drill shed is filled with additional dormitories that are no longer in use after the 200-bed limitation was imposed (at one point it had 550 beds in active use). Memorial Hall is used as the mess, and is the only part of the building with central air conditioning. The offices, in one of the company rooms and in the base of the south tower, have window-mounted air conditioners. The north side of the drill hall contains the lavatories and laundry room, but the drill hall is mostly walled off (the walls are about four feet high) and accessible only to staff, as are all floors above the first.[27]

On November 29, 2017, security staff and residents were caught on camera punching and kicking shelter resident Alexander Singh.[28]

Design

The 13th Regiment Armory consists of an administration building as well as an attached barrel-vaulted drill shed to its east. The lot measures 200 feet (61 m) on Marcus Garvey Boulevard and 480 feet (150 m) along Putnam and Jefferson Avenues. According to Harper's Weekly, the building was designed to recall thirteenth century feudal France.[29][30] Upon the 13th, 14th, and 23rd Regiment Armories' completions in the mid-1890s, the New-York Tribune stated that "these three armories are the product of a lavish expenditure ... for the support and encouragement of the militia that has perhaps never been excelled."[31]

Exterior

The armory consists of an Administration Building 200 feet (61 m) wide by 180 feet (55 m) deep.[32] To the east is a drill hall measuring 300 by 200 feet (91 by 61 m).[29][33]

The main facade of the administration building is located along Marcus Garvey Boulevard to the west. This facade contains a large round-arched, stone-faced stone sally port, 28 feet (8.5 m) in diameter. There are two turreted towers flanking the arch, each with a diameter of 28 feet.[29][30] The round towers are 200 feet (61 m) tall.[5] The south tower has an observatory, while the north tower has an additional, smaller turret, rising another 28 feet, to serve as an outlook.[33] A terrace measuring 16 by 45 feet (4.9 by 13.7 m) in area is located directly above the sally port.[29]

Interior

The building contains a basement and four stories, counting a mezzanine. The basement included rifle galleries, firing rooms, squad drill rooms, large lavatories, and an engine room that provided heat and power to the entire armory.[34][32] In the 1894 Harper's article, it was indicated that a swimming pool and bowling alleys were expected to be installed, but not at public expense. It includes company rooms 22 by 50 feet (6.7 by 15.2 m) feet with 14-foot-high (4.3 m) ceilings, six on each side, containing captains' and sergeants' rooms, private stairs to locker rooms in the mezzanine. Officers' rooms are on the second floor, described as "large and excellent."[32] There were also council and Veteran Association rooms, 44 by 50 feet (13 by 15 m), and a gymnasium 50 by 80 feet (15 by 24 m) feet, also on the second floor. The third floor contained a mess-hall, kitchen, and lecture-room.[32] A 1892 Harper's article described the premises as "one grand lyceum".[34]

The drill hall contains galleries with built-in seats on the north, south, and west sides.[29][33] The roof is supported by 200-foot arch iron trusses with a skylight in the center.[32] The drill hall could be used for sports such as baseball and track and field, as well as for gymnastics and calisthenics.[34]

gollark: And then introduce platinum prizes for no good reason!
gollark: Give everyone without a prize ***-1G*** prizes.
gollark: I kind of want to see that person with their "families" thing.
gollark: Hey, that fits, actually.
gollark: Scroll goal: to arrange dragons such that they can calculate whether a given Turing machine will halt or not.

See also

References
  1. Morrone 2001, p. 257.
  2. "Pamoja House". The Other Journal. June 24, 2013.
  3. Morrone 2001, pp. 256–257.
  4. Todd 2006, pp. 128, 131.
  5. Gray, Christopher (January 24, 1988). "Streetscapes: 13th Regiment Armory; A Brooklyn Fortress Yields to the Changing Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  6. Harpers Weekly 1892, cited in Todd 2006, pp. 130–131.
  7. Todd 2006, p. 131.
  8. "The Armory Blunder". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. March 9, 1892. p. 4. Retrieved October 21, 2019 – via Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com .
  9. "The News from Brooklyn; Matters of Political Import in the City of Churches. Congressional Appointment Bill Not a Fair One -- Chapin's Ap- Pointment Discussed --- the Ele- Vated Railroad Scandal". The New York Times. March 20, 1892. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  10. "Taxpayers Must Pay for It.; Queer Doings in Connection with Thirteenth Regiment's Armory". The New York Times. March 9, 1892. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  11. "VETERANS FOR ITS ESCORT; THIRTEENTH REGIMENT TO MARCH TO NEW ARMORY TO-NIGHT. Its Third Home One of the Finest Military Structures in the Country -- Castle of Chapultepec Model of Its Front -- Great Drill Hall had Splen- did Accommodations -- Record of the Thirteenth in Time of Peace and War a Brilliant Gue". The New York Times. April 23, 1894. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  12. "SOLDIERS WILL NEED UMBRELLAS.; The Costly Thirteenth Regiment Armory Has a Very Leaky Roof". The New York Times. September 21, 1894. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  13. "FALLING WALLS KILL TWO; Framework of Thirteenth Regiment Armory, Brooklyn, Collapses. Seven Men Fall In Crash and Two of Them Probably Are Injured Fatally". The New York Times. December 24, 1903. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  14. "[13th Regiment memorial] - Digital Collections". Brooklyn Public Library. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  15. "BROOKLYN ARMORY BURNS; Historic Trophies Destroyed -- 6 Firemen Felled by Smoke". The New York Times. March 17, 1944. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  16. "500 IN GAMES TONIGHT.; Schoolboy Athletes to Compete on Track in 13th Regiment Armory". The New York Times. February 28, 1930. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  17. "CLOSE CONTESTS BY SUNDAY SCHOOL BOYS; Extensive Programme in Last Open Competition at Thirteenth Regiment Armory". The New York Times. May 7, 1911. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  18. "BROOKLYN'S CHILDREN SING; Public School Pupils Take Part in the Saengerfest. SECOND EVENING CONCERT The First Prize Chorus Sung -- Enormous Audiences in the Thirteenth Regiment Armory". The New York Times. July 4, 1900. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  19. "Mayor to address Baptist Congress - Digital Collections". Brooklyn Public Library. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  20. Times, Francis X. Clines Special to The New York (April 20, 1971). "State Is Dismissing 8,250, With Wide Cutsin Seivices". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  21. "Race Bias Laid to Guard In Brooklyn Armory Plan". The New York Times. August 1, 1971. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  22. Ledbetter, Les (January 23, 1972). "Methadone Center Opposed in Bed‐Stuy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  23. Dugger, Celia W. (December 24, 1992). "Decreases Ordered at 2 Big Shelters for the Homeless". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  24. Holloway, Lynette (September 26, 1993). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: BEDFORD - STUYVESANT UPDATE; Quieter Shelter Makes Friends". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
  25. Hurley, Clare. "Interviews with residents of Pamoja House Homeless Shelter in Brooklyn." World Socialist Web Site, September 9, 2015
  26. Haire, Christopher (December 17, 2011). "Next Step Shelter Program Uses Punitive Measures".
  27. "Back to the Bad Old Days - Coalition For The Homeless". www.coalitionforthehomeless.org.
  28. Smith, Greg B. "City turns over reports of arrests inside homeless shelters following Daily News expose". nydailynews.com.
  29. "New Buildings in Brooklyn". Harper's Weekly. 34: 619. August 9, 1890.
  30. Harpers Weekly 1890, cited in Todd 2006, p. 128.
  31. "Some Sights of Brooklyn". New-York Tribune. July 18, 1897. p. 26. Retrieved October 24, 2019 – via newspapers.com .
  32. "Brooklyn's Great Armory". Harper's Weekly. 38: 402. April 28, 1894.
  33. "13th Reg. Armory interior - Digital Collections". Brooklyn Public Library. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  34. "Brooklyn's New Armories". Harper's Weekly. 36: 679. July 16, 1892.
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